I have heard that 86 ho 302's have flat tops with no eyebrows. How large a cam can I run before I start smackin valves? I have a lunati 51012 544/560 lift bumpstick. got a good deal on cam, lifters and rockers. have already bought everything to finish top end. don't really want to redo bottom end yet. Do I have any hope or are new slugs in my future?

You might want to measure the piston to valve clearance, but the largest you can go with the 5.0 is about .520 or so, intake and exhaust, and that is cutting it close. either fly cutting the pistons or buying aftermarket ones might have to happen. 544 is pretty big for a 302. the stock pistons do have eyebrows, but they are small.

what pistons would be a good and inexpensive option. I'd like to have a c.r. of 9.5-10:1

Can you tell me the CC's of the heads or the casting # of the Ford heads that you are going to use? Most of the time, Probe is a really good forged piston to use. www.probeindustries.com or www.coasthigh.com is where you can get them. they are also somewhat cheap, comparitavely.

alright your heads have a 61.4 CC chamber, 1.84 intake and 1.64 exhaust valves. I didnt get the port sizes, but being from 69/70 or so, and not having smog bosses, I would say they flow decent. The compression ratio with a -4 cc flat top piston and stock head gasket, above chamber and stock bore and stroke is about 9.5:1. I would call www.coasthigh.com or summit and tell them the size of the chamber and your cam, then ask them what piston to run.

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